LUBBOCK, Texas (AP)—Backup quarterback Steven Sheffield threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns to help lead Texas Tech to a 48-28 win over New Mexico on Saturday.
Taylor Potts, the nation’s leading passer, left the game before halftime after two hard sacks appeared to affect his balance. Officials from Texas Tech (3-2) declined to comment on his injury.
Sheffield threw scoring passes of 25, 20 and 62 yards. He was 16 of 23 with one interception. Alex Torres, Detron Lewis and Harrison Jeffers caught the touchdowns.
Potts was intercepted twice, both by cornerback Nathan Enriquez.
The Lobos (0-5) got their only first-half score off Potts’ second interception. Donovan Porterie threw a 7-yard TD pass to Josh Fussell in the second quarter.
Porterie completed 30 of 56 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns.
The loss for New Mexico was its ninth straight dating to last season.
The game capped a week of off-the-field distractions for both teams.
Red Raiders coach Mike Leach made headlines when he indefinitely suspended Brandon Carter, a team captain and preseason All-America pick, for violating team rules following Texas Tech’s 29-28 loss to No. 12 Houston. Carter was in the stands for much of the game. He did not practice with the team this week.
Leach also banned his players from using Twitter after learning Marlon Williams had tweeted about Leach being late to a team meeting.
For the Lobos, coach Mike Locksley is under investigation by the university following a Sept. 20 fight involving an assistant. Receivers coach J.B. Gerald told police Locksley struck him during a staff meeting. Gerald hasn’t been with the team since the incident.
At the outset, Texas Tech showed no signs of being distracted.
On its first possession, Potts threw a 79-yard pass to Tremain Swindall, who outran Lobos defenders to the 1 on the Red Raiders’ longest play from scrimmage this season. Jeffers took the ball in on the next play to put the Texas Tech up 7-0.
Potts, who was without a touchdown pass, was not on the sideline after halftime. He got sacked hard twice late in the second quarter.
Tech trainers checked Potts’ balance—he stood on one foot and then the other—and rubbed the back of his neck.
Lobos linebacker Carmen Messina sacked Potts on a first-down play and Johnathan Rainey threw him to the ground on third-and-9 after Potts scrambled toward the far sideline late in the second quarter.
The nation’s leading passer got up slowly after the second sack, then stood still momentarily as he bent over, resting his hands on his knees. His head was down as he made his way to Texas Tech’s sideline.
Sheffield replaced Potts and led the Red Raiders on an 86-yard drive to a touchdown, finding Torres on a 25-yard score with 1 second remaining in the half for a 14-7 lead.
Head to Head - Week 5
| Team | Total Yds | Pass Yds | Rush Yds | First Downs | 3rdD% | Pen./Yds | Turnovers | Time of Poss. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 431 | 316 | 115 | 24 | 30.0% | 10/96 | 2 | 36:15 |
| Texas Tech | 487 | 453 | 34 | 26 | 14.3% | 11/99 | 5 | 23:45 |
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Leach's system requires weekly dedication to a precise and repetitively rehearsed offense execution. That system worked well in 2008.
Fortunately, the talent level has improved over 9 years with still better recruiting yet to come as a result of the 2008 performance, but the Leach system still remains the framework for any improvements from here forward. There are several teams with top 10 talent which cannot be utilized for lack of a dependable system.
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You say that TT is playing under its potential when it wins a game like this? what do you see as their potential? It's too bad that alot of teams play down to the level of a worse team rather than dictate the terms of the game themselves. Kind of like a cat toying with its prey just for the sick pleasure of prolonging the kill. I didn't see this game but it looks to me that once again UNM won alot of stat battles but lost the important one, the W.
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